Lithium-ion battery pack to revolutionize hybrid electric vehicles
An engineering team at EnerDel, the company’s automotive battery subsidiary based in Indianapolis, Inc., modified the vehicle to work successfully with the new battery’s chemistry and design. The feat is a milestone for the electric vehicle industry.
The batteries are lighter in weight, occupy less space, provide more power, and boast a longer life than the current nickel metal hydride batteries found in most hybrid vehicles.
“We have made a major stride toward providing the power, safety, and affordability that the market has been waiting for,” comments Ulrik Grape, Ener1 Executive Vice President for Global Sales and CEO of EnerDel. “We believe that ours is the safest high-power lithium-ion battery available for hybrid electric vehicles.”
EnerDel publicly unveiled its HEV battery pack prototype in October. Third-party testing results on the battery’s performance in the Prius are expected to be released during the first quarter of 2008.
EnerDel is scheduled to deliver a prototype electric vehicle (EV) battery to Think Global of Norway in March 2008 under a $70 million development and supply agreement. The lithium-ion battery pack for the Th!nk City vehicle’s drive train will have higher energy density than hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) cells and should enable vehicles to last up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) without recharging.
The company also has received a $6.5 million contract from the U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium for development of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) battery.
The new HEV lithium-ion batteries will be manufactured at EnerDel’s production facility in Indianapolis.